Five Years Later, the Jack Eichel Trade Still Defines the Golden Knights

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

On Nov. 4, 2021, the Buffalo Sabres sent Eichel and a third-round draft pick to Vegas. In return, Buffalo got forward Alex Tuch, prospect Peyton Krebs, a first-round pick and a second-round pick. The first-round pick became the No. 16 selection in the 2022 draft, and Buffalo used it on Noah Ostlund.

The trade ended a long fight between Eichel and the Sabres. Eichel had a herniated disk in his neck. Buffalo wanted him to have fusion surgery. Eichel wanted an artificial disk replacement, which had never been done on an NHL player. Buffalo took away his captaincy, and he started the 2021-22 season on injured reserve.

Vegas agreed to let him have the surgery he wanted. He had it on Nov. 12, 2021, eight days after the trade. Then the team waited. Eichel finally played his first game for Vegas on Feb. 16, 2022. It was his first NHL game since March 7, 2021, a gap of more than 11 months.

Vegas also took on a big contract. Eichel had five years left on the eight-year, $80 million deal he signed with Buffalo. So the Golden Knights were paying a lot, in both players and money, for a center who had not played in months and was about to have an operation that was new to the sport.

If you are newer to hockey, here is why the price was so high. NHL teams live under a salary cap, which limits how much they can spend on players each year. A $10 million player takes up a big piece of that limit. Draft picks matter too, because they are how teams get young, low-cost talent for years to come. Vegas gave up some of its future and a chunk of its budget for one player. If his neck had not healed, the team would have been stuck with that choice for a long time.

Here is how it has gone since. Through the Nov. 8 game, Eichel has 367 points in 334 regular-season games with Vegas, on 135 goals and 232 assists. He has added 65 points in 62 playoff games. His 94 points in 2024-25 set the team's single-season record at the time he did it, and he followed that with 90 points last season.

He is still producing. Eichel went into Sunday's game at Buffalo with 23 points, on seven goals and 16 assists, which led the team. Then he scored on a play set up by Ivan Barbashev at 13:43 of the second period to make it 2-0. Vegas won 4-1, so his goal stood as the winner. That put him at 24 points in 19 games, four more than Mitch Marner, who is next on the team.

The year-by-year numbers show how steady he has been. He had 25 points in 34 games in that first short season after surgery. Then came 66 points in 2022-23, 68 in 2023-24, 94 in 2024-25 and 90 last season. In the playoffs, he has 26 points in 22 games in 2023, seven in seven games in 2024, 10 in 11 games in 2025, and 22 in 22 games in 2026. Add his Buffalo years and he has 722 career points in 709 regular-season games.

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

The Golden Knights are more than a hockey team here. They were the first major pro sports team to call Las Vegas home, and a lot of people who had never watched hockey became fans. When a team means that much to a city, its biggest moves become part of the city's story.

This trade is the biggest of those moves. Vegas had reached the Stanley Cup Final in its very first season, and it came up short. Five years ago the team was still looking for a true No. 1 center, the kind of player most champions have. Eichel filled that spot. By the end of his second season with Vegas, the Golden Knights had their first Stanley Cup.

It also matters because he is staying. In October 2025, Eichel and the team agreed to an eight-year, $108 million contract. It started this season and runs through 2033-34, at $13.5 million per year. That means kids who are learning to skate at rinks around the valley right now could be in high school by the time his deal ends.

There is a smaller, more local side to this too. Eichel is showing up around town. He is set to be part of the opening night at the Oasis Ice Rink at Fontainebleau on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m. There will be a tree lighting and a drone show. Admission, skate rental and hot chocolate are free that night. A star who signs for eight years and shows up at a holiday rink feels like a neighbor, and that is part of why this team has stuck here.

The timing is good, too. The Golden Knights are calling this year Season X, their 10th in the NHL, and they have planned theme nights to look back on the first decade. It is hard to tell the story of those 10 years without this trade in the middle of it.

Background and History

To see why Eichel wanted out of Buffalo, you have to go back to the start. The Sabres took him with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft. He played six seasons there and put up 355 points in 375 games. He became team captain. But Buffalo never made the playoffs with him. The team went through five head coaches and three general managers along the way.

Some critics said he only cared about offense. Others said he had not lived up to his big contract. Then came the neck injury, the surgery fight and the trade.

Even his first months in Vegas were hard. The Golden Knights missed the playoffs in 2022, which meant Eichel had now gone seven NHL seasons without a playoff game. He later admitted he had started to wonder if he would ever get there. When he returned to Buffalo as a visitor in March 2022, he said he held no hard feelings toward the Sabres.

Then came 2023. Eichel played a far more complete game under coach Bruce Cassidy. In his first playoff run ever, he led the NHL with 26 points in 22 games, on six goals and 20 assists. Vegas beat the Florida Panthers in five games, and Eichel had three assists in the 9-3 win that clinched the Cup. He finished second in voting for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which goes to the most valuable player of the playoffs. Teammate Jonathan Marchessault won it.

It is fair to ask how things turned out on the other side, because Buffalo did not walk away empty-handed. Tuch became a top scorer for the Sabres, with 33 goals and 66 points last season. In June 2026, Buffalo signed him to an eight-year deal and sent him to the Washington Capitals in a sign-and-trade, with a $10.5 million cap hit. Krebs played a full 82 games last season for the first time and set career highs with 12 goals and 39 points. In July 2026 he signed a four-year deal with Buffalo at $4.5 million per year.

The Sabres also finally got back to the playoffs. In April 2026 they clinched a spot and ended a 14-year drought, the longest in NHL history. They reached the second round. So this was not a one-sided deal in every way. Both teams got real value. Only one of them got a Stanley Cup out of it, though, and it took just two seasons.

Vegas nearly added a second Cup last spring. The team changed coaches late in the season, with John Tortorella taking over for Cassidy with eight games left. Then the Golden Knights beat the Utah Mammoth and the Anaheim Ducks, and swept the Colorado Avalanche to reach their third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons. The Carolina Hurricanes won that series in six games, and the last one was a 3-0 loss at home. It hurt, but it also showed how long this run has lasted. Three of the team's playoff trips with Eichel have gone at least two rounds deep, and two of them ended in the Final.

What Happens Next

Vegas is back home after a strong East Coast trip. The team went 3-0-1 and sits at 12-5-2, with 26 points. Now it plays five straight games at T-Mobile Arena:

Wednesday, Nov. 11, vs. Utah Mammoth, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 13, vs. Nashville Predators, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 15, vs. Vancouver Canucks, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 17, vs. Dallas Stars, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 19, vs. Dallas Stars, 7 p.m.

Times can change, so check the team's schedule before you head out. The NHL is also playing an 84-game schedule for the first time this year, so there is more hockey to watch than in any season before.

If you want to see the two sides of this trade on the same ice in Las Vegas, mark Thursday, Jan. 28, 2027. That is when the Sabres come to T-Mobile Arena, at 7 p.m. Tuch now plays in Washington, but Krebs is still with Buffalo, so one piece of the trade will be back on the ice with Eichel.

The bigger question is how long Eichel can keep this up. He turned 30 last month, and his new contract will carry him into his late 30s. Long deals often look best in the first few years. Vegas has already seen him come back and play at a high level after a surgery no one in the league had tried, and last spring he had 22 points in 22 playoff games on the way to another Final. Season X will tell us more.

Ryan's Take

I am a real estate agent, not a hockey scout, so take this for what it is. But the thing I keep coming back to is how Vegas handled the risk. Everybody knew about Eichel's neck. It was the reason he was available at all. Vegas looked at a known problem, did its homework, agreed on a plan to fix it, and got a player most teams never get a chance to buy.

I see the same idea in homes all over the valley. A house with a known issue scares a lot of buyers away, and sometimes that fear is right. Sometimes it is not. The answer is rarely to guess. You get the inspection, price the repair and decide with real facts in front of you. A problem you understand is very different from a problem you are afraid of.

The contract piece fits too. Buying a home, like an eight-year deal, is a long commitment. It works best when you are buying for the years ahead and not just for this season. I would never tell you a hockey trade moves home prices, because it does not. But the way this one was made is a pretty good lesson for anyone making a big decision.

What You Can Do

Go see him play. The five-game homestand starts Wednesday, and the Sabres visit in January. If you have never been to a game at T-Mobile Arena, Season X is a good year to start, since the team has planned theme nights that look back at its first 10 years. Check the Golden Knights' official site for tickets and the full list of nights.

If you have kids, put Nov. 18 on the calendar. Opening night at the Oasis Ice Rink at Fontainebleau is free for admission, skate rental and hot chocolate, starting at 5 p.m. The rink runs through Jan. 4, 2027. After opening night, skating starts at $15 plus taxes and fees for Nevada locals on select dates, or $30 plus taxes and fees at the standard rate. Nevada residents park free.

You can also get closer to the team than you might think. City National Arena in Downtown Summerlin is the Golden Knights' practice home. The team's training camp practices there were free and open to the public this fall. Check the arena's calendar to see what is open during the season.

And if you are thinking about a move in the valley, whether that means being close to the arena, close to Summerlin or just close to a good rink for the kids, I am happy to talk through what is out there. No pressure at all.

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime.

Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | 702-747-5921 | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com

Sources

Las Vegas Review-Journal, Danny Webster: 'A special player': Revisiting the Jack Eichel trade 5 years later

NHL.com: Eichel set for first return to Buffalo with Golden Knights

CBS Sports: Sabres send Jack Eichel to Golden Knights for top prospect Alex Tuch, multiple draft picks in blockbuster deal

ESPN: Vegas' Jack Eichel: Wasn't sure I'd ever win Stanley Cup

Las Vegas Sun: Vegas and Jack Eichel agree on an 8-year, $108 million contract extension

theScore: Capitals land Tuch on 8-year, $84M contract in sign-and-trade

Daily Faceoff: Report on Peyton Krebs' four-year contract with Buffalo

theScore: Sabres clinch playoff berth to end NHL-record 14-year drought

FOX Sports: Golden Knights' improbable run comes to crashing halt with shutout loss on home ice

NBC Sports: Golden Knights sweep Avalanche to advance to third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons

FOX5 Vegas, Martha Cruz: Oasis Ice Rink kicks off holiday season with tree lighting featuring Jack Eichel, Swaggy P

FOX5 Vegas: Vegas Golden Knights announce 'Season X' theme nights to celebrate a decade of memories

Vegas Golden Knights: Golden Knights announce 2026 training camp roster, schedule

NHL: Jack Eichel player stats and Golden Knights schedule

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Jack Eichel by Jenn G (CC BY-SA 2.0); KeyBank Center by Quintin Soloviev (CC BY 4.0); T-Mobile Arena by Tomás Del Coro (CC BY-SA 2.0); City National Arena by Toohool (CC BY-SA 4.0).